❓ Dr. Honey questions the Minister for Energy regarding the Kalgoorlie blackout, specifically the black start capabilities of Synergy's power stations and alleged cost-cutting measures impacting generator readiness. The Minister declines to answer directly, citing an ongoing inquiry.
AnsweredQoN 33Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELECTRICITY
— OUTAGES — KALGOORLIE
33. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
My question is to the Minister for Energy; I am glad he is
feeling better. I refer to comments made by the Premier yesterday in his
Premier's Statement that one of the main causes of the delays in
starting the Synergy generators during the recent Kalgoorlie region blackout
was a need to reroute power from another source to allow the Synergy generators
to be started.
(1) Is it not
the case that the Synergy West Kalgoorlie power stations are designed for a black
start; that is, they do not require power from another source to begin
generating power for the network?
(2) Can the
minister explain why the opposition has been told that Synergy had
substantially reduced testing the readiness
of the Synergy Kalgoorlie power station to save money being spent on fuel,
leading to it being unaware of a fault that prevented the generators
coming online immediately after the recent blackout?
— OUTAGES — KALGOORLIE
33. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
My question is to the Minister for Energy; I am glad he is
feeling better. I refer to comments made by the Premier yesterday in his
Premier's Statement that one of the main causes of the delays in
starting the Synergy generators during the recent Kalgoorlie region blackout
was a need to reroute power from another source to allow the Synergy generators
to be started.
(1) Is it not
the case that the Synergy West Kalgoorlie power stations are designed for a black
start; that is, they do not require power from another source to begin
generating power for the network?
(2) Can the
minister explain why the opposition has been told that Synergy had
substantially reduced testing the readiness
of the Synergy Kalgoorlie power station to save money being spent on fuel,
leading to it being unaware of a fault that prevented the generators
coming online immediately after the recent blackout?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
member is asking me to prejudge an inquiry led by the energy coordinator, in
consultation with Western Power, Synergy and the Australian Energy Market
Operator, to determine what happened in Kalgoorlie.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : I am not an
electrician and I am not sure of the member's academic qualifications,
but I do not think they are in electricity. Let us see. The member knows a lot—I
know that—but I am not sure the member has the certificate on the wall. I will wait to see the outcome of that
inquiry to determine what happened. We do not know where the fault lay,
whether it was in the network or in one of those generators in West Kalgoorlie,
but I am not going to jump to conclusions, and I do not think the member should
either.
member is asking me to prejudge an inquiry led by the energy coordinator, in
consultation with Western Power, Synergy and the Australian Energy Market
Operator, to determine what happened in Kalgoorlie.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : I am not an
electrician and I am not sure of the member's academic qualifications,
but I do not think they are in electricity. Let us see. The member knows a lot—I
know that—but I am not sure the member has the certificate on the wall. I will wait to see the outcome of that
inquiry to determine what happened. We do not know where the fault lay,
whether it was in the network or in one of those generators in West Kalgoorlie,
but I am not going to jump to conclusions, and I do not think the member should
either.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.